Summary

The hunters become the hunted when a creature stalks a remote community, and one of the brothers has a choice to make. Will both brothers survive the hunt and the decision of the other?

Disclaimer

Still don't own Supernatural – do we really have to write this every chapter? It's hard enough to admit to the first time!

Author's Note

I am beginning to worry that this story is no good. No reviews recently – if that's the case, I shall slip away quietly and scrap the story, never to return. See I am not baove guilt tripping! If you do want me to continue with it, please read and review. It's in your hands…

Chapter 5

Sam looked at the doorway in surprise- inside was a petite, delicate looking woman. She looked to be in her late 50's, though her hair was pure white; and she had bright, piercing blue eyes. She smiled warmly as she walked down the path before enveloping him in a hug.

Sam was taken aback to say the least but politely hugged the woman back. For some reason he felt completely at ease, and he sensed no malice coming from her.

"You must be Mrs Baker?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"Who else would I be? And before you ask, Cat told me to expect you. Sorry, but I do like to startle folk" Elsie grinned impishly. Sam could see the mischievous young woman that Elsie must have been.

"Come in, and please call me Elsie by the way – I have some freshly made lemonade, or dandelion and burdock if you prefer?"

Sam followed Elsie into the house, unaware of the figure watching them from across the street. If Sam had turned, he would have seen the sun highlight the red in the eyes of the one watching.

Elsie's house was unexpectedly modern and pristine, a contrast to the rather ramshackle exterior. Obviously she took great care of her home. She ushered Sam into a welcoming kitchen. "Sit yourself down Sam and make yourself at home" and bustled around the kitchen "Now you haven't had any breakfast yet" It was more of a statement than a question.

Sam shook his head as he sat down at the large wooden kitchen table, a smile tugging at his mouth. He could not help but instinctively like Elsie Baker.

"You're a nice boy, Sam Winchester" Elsie ruffled his hair as she passed. Sam started -although he and Dean were using their own first names, they were known in town as Lawson, Sam's choice this time, and not Winchester.

"Now before you start to fret, there's probably a few things you should know. The first of which is that I too have talents." Elsie smiled." I have some psychic abilities, nothing strong, can't see into the future or anything, but I am very good at reading the present. I also dabble a little in the arts – strictly white magic only, again nothing too serious, a little herb lore, charms that kind of thing.

Sam sat rather stunned to be having this conversation, amazed that Elsie was being so open about all of this. "Secondly" she continued, and here Elsie smiled broadly, "I had a phone call from an old friend about half an hour ago, I think perhaps you may know her- Missouri Mosely? She told me who you were and to expect you."

"How on earth did Missouri know we were here?" Sam asked.

"She was the one who advised your father to come here. Did he not tell you?"

The younger Winchester stared at Elsie, and then shrugged. "He isn't exactly free with information" Sam said rather bitterly.

"Oh honey" Elsie couldn't help but respond to the sorrow and loneliness that came off the young man in front of her and walked back across to him, put an arm around his shoulders and squeezed reassuringly.

The older woman pulled away and restarted bustling around the kitchen. "Now how does a nice full breakfast sound?"

A short while later, Sam leaned back from the table, absolutely stuffed. Elsie was a fantastic cook. He felt a bit guilty that Dean had missed out on it. During breakfast he had told Elsie a little of his family, though mostly it was of Dean. To Sam, Dean was his family. It was painfully obvious to Elsie, both from Sam's conversation and the little that Missouri had advised her, that Dean was now Sam's whole world, that it had been he that had raised him and that the brothers were utterly devoted to each other. Her heart ached to think that they could come to any harm. She felt a need to protect them in a way she failed to do for her own family.

"So Elsie" Sam broke into her reverie, "I take it you know why I came here?"

She smiled rather sadly. "Most of the folk round here think I am a little 'off'", she started, "They never believed me when I first told them what happened to Jim and Matthew". Elsie's eyes faded with long remembered sorrow.

"It was 12th August, 1985. My husband, Jim, and son, Matthew was due to return from the logging camp about 12 miles north of here. Jim never returned. Matthew was brought back, he had been mauled, terrible scratches down his back and legs, and he was ill with a high fever." Elsie's voice shook, and Sam covered her hands with his own. "He was in no condition to be taken to the nearest hospital, however we had a local doctor, still do in fact. He stitched my son's wounds and gave him antibiotics to fight the infection and bring his temperature down. The injuries were not as severe as first thought and with time, the Doctor thought, my son would recover. But Matt took a turn for the worse during the following night and his fever heightened. They say that's why he left the house that night, that he was delirious. My boy was in such pain…" Elsie faltered.

"That night I looked out of Matt's bedroom window when I thought I could see something crouching in the garden. I thought at first that it was just my imagination, just some shadow, but couldn't seem to take my eyes off it. It moved again, closer to the house. We had a light on the porch, and as it moved closer I thought I could make out something like a wild cat, but huge. Its eyes were amber, and it had fangs about 3 inches long."

"I took out Jim's shotgun, ran to the front door and fired at the thing. It just flinched and I heard the back door slam. It rose up on its hind legs, let out an almighty yowl and pushed past me into the house. I was terrified, but my son was injured and alone so I followed it in. I could hear rending and tearing, and then the back door slammed again. I hurried to be son's room – it had been torn apart but there was no sign of either him or the creature. I went to the back of the house and could see Matt at the forest edge, the creature following. It could have easily caught up with him but it seemed to be herding him into the woods."

"I knew I would never be able to find him alone so I ran for help. Everyone thought I was hysterical, that I had let my son's delirium influence what I had seen, but they came out to help me search. We looked for days but we never found him. He never came home." Tears spilled from Elsie's eyes and this time it was Sam wrapping his arms around the older woman, giving her what comfort he could, and simply held her as she wept.

"I'm sorry" Elsie said quietly, "It's just been a long time since I've talked about it and you are one of the few who actually believes me"

"Missouri?" Sam asked softly.

"Yes, I had a sister in Kansas, where I went to stay for a while- I had to come back though, to me Jim and Matt were still out here. My sister used to go see Missouri to get her tarot cards read and suggested I go too. I visited her several times and we became friends. She was the only person who believed me. We kept in touch and she managed to find a little of what this creature could be…"

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Meanwhile, Dean had driven to the saw mill. There was still no sign of his father and Dean had tried to call him twice but had gotten no answer to his calls; Dean was starting to get a little worried. It was unlike his Dad not to meet when arranged; the man was strictly punctual and accepted no less from either of his sons.

Dean approached one of the men he recognised from the bar. "Hey Toby", Toby glanced up. He was a powerfully built man, a few inches taller than Dean, but jovial and friendly if not all that bright. He also couldn't play pool for love nor money, Dean thought with a smile.

"Dean. What are you doing up here?" he asked

"I was hoping to speak to the foreman. Is he around?"

"Looking for a job? Wouldn't have thought you'd want to get those pretty boy hands of yours dirty?"

"You're just worried I'll put you to shame" Dean retorted, not his best comeback, but hell, considering he felt like shit, not that bad.

"Danny is over in the office." Toby pointed the way.

"You Danny?" He asked the man behind the desk. Jesus what the hell do they put in the water round here, Dean thought, the guy was even taller than Sam, though slightly bigger built. Not that hard, my brother being a beanpole.

"What's it to you?" The man asked suspiciously.

"My name's Dean Lawson, from National Geographic. I'm doing a piece on Wild Cat sightings. I was supposed to meet my photographer here." Dean nearly spoiled his own story by laughing, I mean Dad a photographer, well he likes to shoot, I suppose. He described John to him and was uneasy when a knowing smile came to Danny's face.

"Oh yeah, I remember seeing him this morning. Said he was tracking a big cat that had been seen in town last night. Told him, he was wasting his time, hasn't been any wildcats around here in nigh on 30 years."

"Oh population expansion can force these cats back into areas they have previously moved on from" Dean was quite proud of that one.

"The last I saw of him he was heading out in that direction," Danny pointed to the forest north west of the mill. Dean thanked him and headed off after his father. He went to try to phone again but realised there was no signal. "Damn."

Dean left the Impala at the Mill, there was no point driving any further. My baby is not going on those dirt tracks. As he headed into the forest he looked for signs that his father had been this way. Dean searched fruitlessly for both his father and signs of the creature, but an hour or so later he felt even worse. The pains in his stomach were constant and now his head had decided to join the party. His eyes were becoming increasingly hard to focus and any light caused stabbing pains in his eyes. He decided to head back- the last place he needed to be was alone in the middle of no-where , ill with no phone.

He headed back to the mill to pick up the Impala – screw pride, he thought, I'm going back to the guesthouse and crash for a while. As Dean drew closer to the Mill, he could se the sky darkening dramatically – shit, looks like a storms heading this way and fast, "just typical!" Dean growled to himself. He shivered as the wind picked up. Dean hurried through the Mill gates, but stopped suddenly in shock.

"No" he whispered, he couldn't believe it- the Impala was gone…

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